Webs on the Web: Internet Database, Analysis, and Visualization of Ecological Networks

San Francisco State University, San Francisco CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project will establish an Internet database of food web, which describe the trophic structure and function of ecological networks, combined with tools that will increase the ability of scientists and students to exchange and analyze information about the networks. The database design will be extensible to other ecological interactions and network types. The content will focus on trophic interactions among organisms and also bioenergetic parameters that enable the modeling of network dynamics. These biocomplexity informatics activities serve the user interested in network theory relating to biological and non-biological systems. The project involves an interdisciplinary collaboration in ecology, informatics, computer science and information technology. In addition to San Francisco State University, the Santa Fe Institute and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis are involved. Broader impacts include establishing an interdisciplinary interdepartmental collaboration at a minority inner-city public university and increasing the participation of underrepresented minorities in ecology and computer science.